SIXTY YEARS AND COUNTING
The Long View in a Short Term World
Sixty years is a long time to do anything well.
In medicine, we’re used to tracking everything—RVUs, volume, outcomes, even “work-life balance.” We slice our days into metrics and dashboards, always looking for ways to optimize.
But not everything that matters fits on a dashboard.
My parents just celebrated 60 years of marriage, and as I sit with that, I realize what they built doesn’t really map to how we define success in medicine today.
They came to the U.S. in their twenties in 1964 as part of a wave of Filipino physicians and healthcare workers who stepped into a system that needed them. They landed in New York, far from home, and did what that generation of doctors knew how to do best: they went to work.
They started their life the same way—on call. Working up until hours before their wedding. No family there. Just the two of them, building forward. (Now, I’m not saying that kind of grind is ideal or something we should repeat unquestioningly—but it is part of their story.)
They built long, respected careers—my mother in internal medicine, my father in general surgery. Different paths, same approach: show up, do the work, do it well.
They organized and coordinated medical missions back to the Philippines—bringing it full circle—while staying committed to their local hometown here in Florida, including serving in leadership roles with medical staff and volunteering with community organizations.
And in the middle of it all, that was the constant—they kept showing up for each other, and for me, my siblings, and now their grandkids.
Practices. Rehearsals. Games. Concerts. Graduations. Birthdays. Family dinners.
Not perfectly. But consistently.
Today, we spend a lot of time trying to engineer a better life—better schedule, more autonomy, less burnout. I care about those things too; they’re most of what I write about here, and they matter.
But my parents’ story reminds me there’s another layer beyond that—what actually lasts.
Sixty years isn’t optimized - It’s sustained!
Their exact path isn’t one most of us could—or should—try to copy today. The system, training, and economics are different. But their story still pushes me to ask:
What am I building that will actually last—for me, my family, my patients, or my community?
I’ll continue to ponder that in today’s healthcare ecosystem.
But for now, Happy 60th anniversary, Mom and Dad!
Thank you for showing me what it looks like.
Lovely, and congrats to your parents!
Thank you for sharing. :))